The Regional Hubs are a key knowledge exchange and knowledge brokering mechanism for KIX. The hubs lay the groundwork for multi-year inter-country learning exchange, facilitate engagement with key regional and in-country partners and define national and regional priorities in education. The priorities identified informed the calls for regional grants projects. In this news item, we provide an update on the progress of the KIX LAC Hub, focused in 10 Latin American countries (Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Guatemala, and El Salvador).
Over the past year, the KIX regional hub for Latin America and the Caribbean have engaged in a number of webinars, conferences, discussions, and contributed to various academic publications. All efforts move toward the hub’s goal of mobilizing knowledge and innovation, as well as promoting the exchange of experiences in the field of education, to effectively integrate innovation and solve the critical problems identified by the very countries that make up the Hub.
In January 2021, the KIX LAC hub hosted its first annual meeting to discuss educational improvement in the region, amongst its members. Here, a joint agenda was established to effectively solve critical problems identified, emphasizing teacher training, inclusion and COVID-19.The Hub’s annual meetings allow for members and stakeholders to participate in the planning process, ensuring the relevance of its activities.
The hub also recently hosted the KIX LAC International Conference on Teacher Professional Development in Times of COVID-19. The conference gathered regional educational authorities and experts, bringing together more than 700 virtual attendees. The hub is also gaining recognition with its KIX Conversations speaker series, which highlights the voices of regional experts on relevant educational issues, as well as innovative projects and approaches in the region.
With webinars serving as important mediums for knowledge circulation and mobilization, the KIX LAC hub has hosted various events alongside its other scheduled programming. In a webinar titled, "Use of Evidence in Times of [Post] COVID: Educational Tools and Experiences" education specialists presented various platforms and actions applied in LAC educational systems, derived from COVID-19 related adaptations worldwide. The Hub also hosts meetings with smaller regional teams, including stakeholders from Eastern Caribbean countries, to ensure that education policy questions and responses remain relevant and region-specific.
Looking ahead, the KIX LAC Hub is preparing a symposium in December focusing on “Educating in Times of Crisis and Emergencies”. Participants will discuss and reflect on how countries have faced educational challenges in times of environmental, health, migration, gender, social and/or political crises at different times in history.
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